Folding chair

ABSTRACT

A folding chair comprises a seat frame, a front leg bracket and a rear leg bracket, wherein the seat frame comprises at least two support tubes, and the front leg bracket and the rear leg bracket are articulated crosswise to form a foldable support structure. The rear leg bracket and the front leg bracket each have two upper ends corresponding to the two support tubes. The two upper ends of the rear leg bracket are pivoted to the two support tubes respectively. The two upper ends of the front leg bracket are slidably connected to the two support tubes respectively, are limited to first positions of the two support tubes when the foldable support structure is in an unfolded state, and to slide along the two support tubes away from the upper ends of the rear leg bracket when the foldable support structure in the unfolded state is gradually folded.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of chairs, in particular to a folding chair.

Description of Related Art

Folding chairs are popular for their small occupied space and convenience. However, existing folding chairs are usually folded upwards vertically, thereby still occupying a large space after being folded. For example, the Chinese utility model patent Application No. CN203468056U discloses a leisure moon chair structure which is fixed through a front leg (2) connection point and released through a back leg (3) connection point; when the leisure moon chair structure is folded, a back leg (3) release position slides upwards along a back support tube (4), and a front leg (2) rotates accordingly to realize folding.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, the invention provides a folding chair to solve the problem that existing folding chairs still have a large size after being folded.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the invention adopts the following technical solution:

A folding chair comprises a seat frame, a front leg bracket and a rear leg bracket, wherein the seat frame comprises at least two support tubes which are located on two sides in parallel, and the front leg bracket and the rear leg bracket are articulated crosswise to form a foldable support structure for supporting the seat frame; and the rear leg bracket and the front leg bracket each have two upper ends corresponding to the two support tubes, the two upper ends of the rear leg bracket are pivoted to the two support tubes respectively, and the two upper ends of the front leg bracket are slidably connected to the two support tubes respectively, and are arranged to be limited to first positions of the two support tubes when the foldable support structure is in an unfolded state, and to slide away from the upper ends of the rear leg bracket along the two support tubes from the first positions when the foldable support structure in the unfolded state is gradually folded.

Further, the two upper ends of the front leg bracket are pivoted to slide-positioning components respectively, each slide-positioning component comprises a connecting part to be in sliding fit with the corresponding support tube and a limiting part for limiting the connecting part to the first position of the corresponding support tube, and each support tube is provided at the first position with a limited part for matching with the limiting part of the corresponding slide-positioning component.

Further, the connecting part of each slide-positioning component is a casing tube part, the limiting part of each slide-positioning component is a protrusion, and the limited parts of the two support tubes are depressions matched with the protrusion.

Further, each slide-positioning component also comprises an operation part for changing the state in which the protrusion is clamped into the depression for limitation or disengage to release the limitation.

Further, each slide-positioning component also comprises an elastic member which provides an elastic force to drive the protrusion into the depression.

Further, each casing tube part comprises a first sleeving hole allowing the support tube to be sleeved therein, and a mounting hole perpendicular to and communicated with the first sleeving hole, the operation part is inserted into the mounting hole, the operation part comprises a second sleeving hole allowing the support tube to be sleeved therein, an outer diameter of the second sleeving hole is slightly larger than an outer diameter of the support tube, the second sleeving hole is provided with the protrusion on a side in a moving direction of the operation part, and the elastic member acts on the operation part and the casing tube part such that the protrusion of the operation part moves towards the depression of the support tube in the mounting hole of the casing tube part.

Further, an inner diameter of the first sleeving hole is equivalent to an outer diameter of the support tube.

Further, the elastic member is a spring, and a joint between the operation part and the spring comprises a limiting boss for limiting the position of the spring.

Further, each support tube is provided with an auxiliary limiting device for limiting the slide-positioning component at a position corresponding to the slide-positioning component at the first position.

Further, each auxiliary limiting device comprises a third sleeving hole allowing the support tube to be sleeved therein and at least one fixing hole perpendicular to and communicated with the third sleeving hole, and the auxiliary limiting device is fixed on the support tube through the fixing hole.

Further, the seat frame comprises a closed annular tube, and the support tubes are located on both sides of the inside of the annular tube in parallel.

Further, the front leg bracket and the rear leg bracket are both U-shaped tubes.

Further, the front leg bracket and the rear leg bracket are both provided with anti-slipping devices at a cross-bar part of the U-shaped tube.

According to the above technical solution, the folding chair disclosed by the invention has a smaller size after being folded and is provided with a fixed rear leg connection point and an open front leg for connection. When the folding chair is folded, the front leg slides upwards along a back support tube, and a rear leg rotates accordingly. The folding chair has the beneficial effects of being smaller in occupied space and more convenient to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of an embodiment in an unfolded state of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment in an unfolded state of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an embodiment in a semi-folded state of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of an embodiment in a folded state of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a sliding latch device in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of a body of a sliding latch device in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of a sliding block of a sliding latch device in an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The accompanying drawings are provided to further illustrate various embodiments of the invention. These drawings are part of the disclosure of the invention and are mainly used to illustrate the embodiments and to explain the operation principle of these embodiments in conjunction with the relevant description of the specification. With reference to these embodiments, those ordinarily skilled in the art will be able to understand other possible embodiments and advantages of the invention. The components in the drawings are not drawn to scale, and similar component symbols are usually used to indicate similar components.

The invention is further explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 7, this embodiment discloses a folding chair, in particular a moon chair with a latch, comprising a seat frame 1, a front leg bracket 2 and a rear leg bracket 3.

The seat frame 1 is used for positioning and connecting the fabric of the folding chair. The seat frame 1 can be in various shapes, such as rectangle, irregular shape, round, etc. In this embodiment, the seat frame 1 is preferably circular or elliptical for the sake of attractiveness and structural simplicity, specifically, the seat frame 1 comprises a closed annular tube 11 and mutually parallel support tubes 12 arranged on both sides of the inside the annular tube. It should be noted that ‘mutually parallel’ may be approximately parallel. On the one hand, the support tubes 12 are used for better supporting the weight of a human body to prevent the seat fabric from sagging; and on other hand, the support tubes 12 are used for connecting the front leg bracket 2 and the rear leg bracket 3. To ensure that the folding chair is stable when unfolded, at least two support tubes 12 are required, and in this embodiment, two support tubes are arranged for the sake of structural simplicity.

The front leg bracket 2 and the rear leg bracket 3 are articulated crosswise to form a foldable support structure for supporting the seat frame 1. The front leg bracket 2 and the rear leg bracket 3 are each formed by two single tubes or by a single tube forming a U-shaped support leg. Compared with the two single tubes, the U-shaped support leg has better stability and is more convenient to fold and unfold. Therefore, in this embodiment, the front leg bracket 2 and the rear leg bracket 3 are preferably formed by U-shaped tubes, and the legs, on the same side, of the two U-shaped tubes are crossed and pivotally assembled and form a very stable triangular structure together with the support tube 12 above, thus improving the stability of the folding chair.

In order to prevent the folding chair from slipping when placed on the ground, the front leg bracket 2 and the rear leg bracket 3 are each provided with an anti-slipping device 6 at positions in contact with the ground (i.e., a cross-bar part of the U-shaped tube). In this embodiment, the anti-slipping devices are C-shaped foot pads wrapping the U-shaped tubes.

The rear leg bracket 3 and the front leg bracket 2 each have two upper ends corresponding to the two support tubes 12, wherein the two upper ends of the rear leg bracket 3 are respectively pivoted to the two support tubes 12 in a common pivoting manner; the two upper ends of the front leg bracket 2 are slidably connected to the two support tubes 12 respectively in a common sliding connection manner, such as Rail-based sliding connection and Sleeve-based sliding connection; in this embodiment, for the sake of better fixation and convenient sliding and operation, the specific structure in this embodiment is as follows:

The two upper ends of the front leg bracket 2 are pivoted to slide-positioning components 4 respectively, each slide-positioning component 4 comprises a connecting part to be in sliding fit with the corresponding support tube and a limiting part for limiting the connecting part to a first position of the corresponding support tube 12, and each support tube is provided at the first position with a limited part for matching with the limiting part of the corresponding slide-positioning component.

Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the connecting part of each slide-positioning component 4 is a casing tube part 41, the limiting part of each slide-positioning component 4 is a protrusion 42, and the limited parts of the two support tubes 12 are depressions 13 matched with the protrusion 42.

Each slide-positioning component 4 further comprises an operation part 43 for clamping the protrusions 42 into the depressions to achieve limitation or to disengage the protrusions 42 from the depressions to release the limitation.

Each slide-positioning component 4 further comprises an elastic member 44 which provides an elastic force to drive the protrusion 43 into the depression 13.

Each casing tube part 41 comprises a first sleeving hole 411 allowing the support tube 12 to be sleeved therein, and a mounting hole 412 perpendicular to and communicated with the first sleeving hole 411, the operation part 43 is inserted into the mounting hole 412 and comprises a second sleeving hole 431 allowing the support tube 12 to be sleeved therein, an outer diameter of the second sleeving hole is slightly larger than an outer diameter of the support tube, the second sleeving hole 431 is provided with the protrusion 42 on a side in a moving direction of the operation part 43, and the elastic member 44 acts on the operation part 43 and the casing tube part 41 such that the protrusion 42 of the operation part 43 moves towards the depression 13 of the support tube 12 in the mounting hole 412 of the casing tube part 41.

In order to fulfill good cooperation between the casing tube part 41 and the support tube 12, an inner diameter of the first sleeving hole 411 is preferably equivalent to the outer diameter of the support tube, in this embodiment.

The elastic member 44 is a common elastic member such as a spring or hard rubber, and is preferably a spring in this embodiment.

In order to conveniently fix the spring without changing the moving direction of the spring, in this embodiment, a limiting boss 45 used to limit the position of the spring is preferably arranged at the joint of the operation part 43 and the spring, and an outer diameter of the limiting boss 45 is preferably slightly smaller than an inner diameter of the spring, so that the position of the spring can be well fixed.

The protrusion 42 and the spring can be of various structures, for example, the spring is a compression spring, and the spring is compressed by the operation part 43 to move the protrusion 42 away from the depression 13; or the spring is a tension spring, and the spring is stretched by the operation part 43 to move the protrusion 42 away from the depression 13.

The upper end of the front leg bracket 2 is pivoted to the slide-positioning component 4 through a common structure. The specific structure in this embodiment is as follows: a U-shaped opening slot 413 is provided outside the casting tube part 41, and connecting holes 414 are provided at both ends of the U-shaped opening slot 413; by arranging the front leg bracket 2 in the U-shaped opening slot 413 and connecting the front leg bracket 2 with the U-shaped opening slot 413 through the connecting holes 414 at both ends, the front leg bracket 2 can rotate properly in the U-shaped opening slot 413 along an axis of the connecting hole 414.

In order to enable the slide-positioning component 4 to slide away from the upper end of the rear leg bracket 3 from the first position only along the support tube 12, the support tube 12 should be provided with a limiting device which may be a common limiting device, such as a convex ring structure integrally formed thereon. In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the installation and position adjustment of the limiting device, the limiting device is preferably an auxiliary limiting device 5 comprising a third sleeving hole allowing the support tube 12 to be sleeved therein and at least one fixing hole perpendicular to and communicated with the third sleeving hole, and the auxiliary limiting device 5 is fixed on the support tube 12 through the fixing hole.

Through the above configuration, when the foldable support structure of the folding chair is in an unfolded state, the protrusion 42 in the slide-positioning component 4 to which the front leg bracket 2 is pivoted is located at the depression 13 in the first position of the support tube 12 and is matched with the depression 13 to maintain the foldable support structure of the folding chair in the unfolded state; when foldable support structure needs to be folded, the protrusion 42 is moved away to be separated from the depression 13 by operating the operation part 43, at this time, the slide-positioning component 4 can be slid on the support tube 12, and since one end of the slide-positioning component 4 is limited by the auxiliary limiting device 5, the slide-positioning component 4 can only be slid away from the upper end of the rear leg bracket till the foldable support structure is completely folded. Through this configuration, the folding chair has a small size after being folded, thereby occupying a smaller spacer and being more convenient to store.

Although the invention has been particularly shown and described with preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims, and all these changes should also fall within the scope of protection of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A folding chair, comprising a seat frame, a front leg bracket and a rear leg bracket, wherein the seat frame comprises at least two support tubes which are located on two sides in parallel, the front leg bracket and the rear leg bracket are articulated crosswise to form a foldable support structure for supporting the seat frame, the rear leg bracket and the front leg bracket each have two upper ends corresponding to the two support tubes, the two upper ends of the rear leg bracket are pivoted to the two support tubes respectively, and the two upper ends of the front leg bracket are slidably connected to the two support tubes respectively, and are arranged to be limited to first positions of the two support tubes when the foldable support structure is in an unfolded state, and to slide away from the upper ends of the rear leg bracket along the two support tubes from the first positions when the foldable support structure changes from the unfolded state to a folded state.
 2. The folding chair according to claim 1, wherein the two upper ends of the front leg bracket are pivoted to slide-positioning components respectively, each said slide-positioning component comprises a connecting part to be in sliding fit with the corresponding support tube and a limiting part for limiting the connecting part to the first position of the corresponding support tube, and each said support tube is provided at the first position with a limited part for matching with the limiting part of the corresponding slide-positioning component.
 3. The folding chair according to claim 2, wherein the connecting part of each said slide-positioning component is a casing tube part, the limiting part of each said slide-positioning component is a protrusion, and the limited parts of the two support tubes are depressions matched with the protrusion.
 4. The folding chair according to claim 3, wherein each said slide-positioning component also comprises an operation part for clamping the protrusions 42 into the depressions to achieve limitation or to disengage the protrusions 42 from the pressions to release the limitation.
 5. The folding chair according to claim 4, wherein each said slide-positioning component also comprises an elastic member which provides an elastic force to drive the protrusion into the depression.
 6. The folding chair according to claim 5, wherein each said casing tube part comprises a first sleeving hole allowing the support tube to be sleeved therein, and a mounting hole perpendicular to and communicated with the first sleeving hole; and the operation part is inserted into the mounting hole, the operation part comprises a second sleeving hole allowing the support tube to be sleeved therein and slightly larger than an outer diameter of the support tube, the second sleeving hole is provided with the protrusion on a side in a moving direction of the operation part, and the elastic member acts on the operation part and the casing tube part such that the protrusion of the operation part moves towards the depression of the support tube in the mounting hole of the casing tube part.
 7. The folding chair according to claim 6, wherein an inner diameter of the first sleeving hole is equivalent to an outer diameter of the support tube.
 8. The folding chair according to claim 6, wherein the elastic member is a spring, and a joint between the operation part and the spring comprises a limiting boss for limiting a position of the spring.
 9. The folding chair according to claim 2, wherein each said support tube is provided with an auxiliary limiting device for limiting the slide-positioning component at a position corresponding to the slide-positioning component at the first position.
 10. The folding chair according to claim 9, wherein each said auxiliary limiting device comprises a third sleeving hole allowing the support tube to be sleeved therein and at least one fixing hole perpendicular to and communicated with the third sleeving hole, and the auxiliary limiting device is fixed on the support tube through the fixing hole. 